Terms of Use

Twin Cities Media Alliance Inc. (“Twin Cities Media Alliance”) welcomes you to Tcdailyplanet.net, a news, information and communication service available on the Internet's World Wide Web.

Tcdailyplanet.net is operated by the Twin Cities Media Alliance as a service to the public, and to participating neighborhood and community media. Tcdailyplanet.net provides registered users of the Twin Cities Media Alliance community and other visitors to our site with access to a collection of information and services pertaining to local communities in which Tcdailyplanet.net operates.

Tcdailyplanet.net also includes third-party advertisements, which make it possible for us to provide the Tcdailyplanet.net services.

You agree to use our Web site in accordance with the Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. These are legally binding agreements between you and us; please read them carefully. When using Tcdailyplanet.net, you are subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and may be subject to other posted guidelines or rules applicable to certain services available on our site. All such guidelines and rules are part of these Terms of Use and you agree to them by using Tcdailyplanet.net. You must read, agree with and accept all of the terms and conditions contained in these Terms of Use before you may become a registered user of Tcdailyplanet.net.

By registering as a user, and/or by accessing and using Tcdailyplanet.net, you agree to these Terms of Use. From time to time, we may make changes to these Terms of Use by posting the changes on this site and sending notice to the e-mail address you provide with registration. Such notice will provide a date upon which the changes will be effective. Should you object to any such modifications to these Terms of Use or become dissatisfied with Tcdailyplanet.net in any way, your only recourse is to immediately terminate your membership as a registered user and discontinue use of Tcdailyplanet.net. Otherwise, continuing to use the service after the effective date means that you agree to be bound by the changes.

Cost There is no cost for using the basic services of Tcdailyplanet.net. From time to time there may be premium content available via subscription or surcharge, and those areas will be clearly marked. Because this is in part an advertising-supported service, we encourage you to patronize the advertisers that help to make this service possible.

Registration To post information or comments on Tcdailyplanet.net, or to obtain access to certain Twin Cities Media Alliance services, you must become a registered user of Tcdailyplanet.net. User registration requires you to provide certain “Personally Identifiable Information,” such as your name, e-mail address, street address, gender, and date of birth. Please see our Privacy Policy for information on Tcdailyplanet.net’s information gathering and how we intend to use and share any information we collect.

If you become a registered user of Tcdailyplanet.net, you accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for restricting access to your computer so others may not access Tcdailyplanet.net using your username or account in whole or in part. Tcdailyplanet.net reserves the right to terminate the membership of a registered user and deny access to the site to any person who violates the Terms of Use.

Copyrights and Trademarks Material published on Tcdailyplanet.net, including articles, photos, graphics, bulletin board postings, audio and video clips, and other content, is copyrighted by The Twin Cities Media Alliance, or by other information providers who have licensed their content for use on Tcdailyplanet.net.

Additionally, the entire content of Tcdailyplanet.net is also copyrighted as a collective work under the United States copyright laws; the owner of the collective work is The Twin Cities Media Alliance. You cannot reproduce, republish or redistribute material from Tcdailyplanet.net or other news services and syndicates in any way without the written consent of the copyright owner. You may, however, electronically store a reasonable portion of Tcdailyplanet.net content for your personal, non-commercial use by making a single electronic copy on your computer's hard drive, a single copy on a diskette or a single copy in printed form. You agree, however, that you will not store or archive a significant portion of the content or create a database using the content.

These rules also apply: 1. You will not in any way violate the intellectual property laws protecting the content accessible through Tcdailyplanet.net. This means you agree not to copy, modify, publish, transmit, create derivative works from, transfer, sell or display the content, including logos, trademarks or service marks, or otherwise violate the proprietary rights of Tcdailyplanet.net or others. 2. You will not reuse, republish or otherwise distribute the content or any modified or altered versions of it, whether over the Internet or otherwise, and whether or not for payment, without the express written permission of the Twin Cities Media Alliance or a third-party copyright holder. 3. You will cooperate promptly and completely with any reasonable request by the Twin Cities Media Alliance related to an investigation of infringement of copyright or other proprietary right.

If you believe that Tcdailyplanet.net or any user of Tcdailyplanet.net has infringed your copyright in any material way, please notify us and provide the following information:

1. An identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed.

2. An identification of the material on Tcdailyplanet.net that you claim is infringing or is subject to infringing activity, with enough detail so that we can locate the material on our site.

3. Your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.

4. A statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.

5. A statement by you declaring that the above information in your Notice is accurate, made under penalty of perjury, and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest involved.

6. Your physical or electronic signature.

Source and Ownership of Information Displayed on This Site Much of the content found on Tcdailyplanet.net will be created by partner publications, or the freelance creators. Our editors will insert an introductory paragraph to provide context. Any content created by external sources will be published in whole or in part on the site, with a corresponding link to the original publication that displays the work in its entirety. Much of the information contained on the Tcdailyplanet.net site is created by its registered users. Our editors will review all content submitted by our registered users Despite our editorial vigilance, we cannot guarantee that registered user postings are accurate, impartial or objective. We also make no assurances or representations as to the veracity of our registered users or the quality of the information posted to our site. We urge you to use common sense and good judgment in deciding whether to rely on the information contained on Tcdailyplanet.net.

You understand that you must personally evaluate, and that you bear all risks associated with the use of, any content you find on Tcdailyplanet.net, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of that content. Although we make this Web site freely accessible, we do not give up our rights, or anyone else's rights, to the materials appearing on the site. We do not claim ownership of individual postings, comments, text, photos or other content or materials posted by our registered users, but all other materials available through this Web site are the property of us or our licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. In addition, content displayed on or through our site, whether posted by registered users or provided by us or our licensors, may be owned both by the person who created or licensed that content and by us as part of a collective work and/or compilation under U.S. and international copyright laws and treaties. You are free to display and print for your personal, non-commercial use information you find on our site, but you may not otherwise reproduce or distribute copies of any of these materials in any form without the prior written consent of the owner.

Of course, you’re free to encourage others to access the information themselves on our site and to tell them how to find it. You may not use any trademark or service mark appearing on this Web site without the prior written consent of the owner of the mark. You are free to establish a hypertext link to this site so long as the link does not state or imply any endorsement or sponsorship of you, your company, or your site by us. However, you may not frame any of the content of this site without the prior written permission of Twin Cities Media Alliance. Requests for permission to frame our content may be sent to editor Mary Turck at editor [at] tcdailyplanet [dot] net. You may not decompile or disassemble, reverse-engineer or otherwise attempt to discover any source code contained in the Tcdailyplanet.net service.

No Pre-Screening or Editing This is a community site. As such, there are web blogs, forums, photo galleries and other interactive areas where registered users can express opinions and share ideas and information. The editors of Tcdailyplanet.net endeavor to monitor all of the material posted or transmitted to the site. Given the speed at which content can be posted, and the volume of postings, Tcdailyplanet.net may not be able to edit or control all of the content that is posted on the site prior to posting, and is therefore not responsible for content made available through the site by registered users.

By using the site, you may be exposed to content that you may find offensive, indecent, inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of the site and any of its content, including but not limited to whether you should rely on said content. You also agree that under no circumstances will Tcdailyplanet.net or its affiliates be liable in any way for any content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed or otherwise made available via the site.

You acknowledge that Tcdailyplanet.net shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to refuse, delete or move any content that is available via the site, for violating the letter or spirit of the Terms of Use or for any other reason. Tcdailyplanet.net reserves the right to delete any posting, message or photograph at any time, for any reason or no reason. Submissions By submitting any content to Tcdailyplanet.net, you automatically grant the Twin Cities Media Alliance and Tcdailyplanet.net the right to post your content as submissions on the Tcdailyplanet.net site, and the right to transmit the content to readers via e-mail or fax.

In addition, by submitting any content, you automatically grant the Twin Cities Media Alliance and Tcdailyplanet.net a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license to use, modify, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, create derivative works of, , for any purpose, without any payment to you, in any type of media or in any form now known or later developed. You automatically waive and give up any claim that any use of such content violates any of your rights, including privacy rights, publicity rights, moral rights or any other right, including the right to approve the way Tcdailyplanet.net uses such content.

By posting content to Tcdailyplanet.net, you represent and agree that (i) you are the owner of the content, or otherwise have the right to post such content to this site, (ii) the content is accurate, (iii) the content will not violate the rights of or cause injury to any person or entity, and (iv) you will indemnify and defend Twin Cities Media Alliance for any claims resulting from content that you submit to the site, as further explained in the section “Indemnification,” below. Online conduct Tcdailyplanet.net encourages a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect. Any action by a user that infringes on another user's right to use and enjoy Tcdailyplanet.net is prohibited. Tcdailyplanet.net reserves the right, but does not assume any obligation, to monitor your online conduct to enforce these Terms of Use. Without limitation,

Tcdailyplanet.net reserves the right to suspend or terminate your access to and use of the site if, in our view, your conduct fails to meet any of the following guidelines:

1. Users shall not provide any information that is false, misleading or inaccurate.

2. Users shall not use any portion of Tcdailyplanet.net for any unlawful purpose and will comply with all applicable domestic and international laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations.

3. Users shall not use any portion of Tcdailyplanet.net for uploading, posting, emailing, transmitting or otherwise making available content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party. Only the owner or a representative designated by the owner may upload copyrighted material to Tcdailyplanet.net.

4. Users shall not use any portion of Tcdailyplanet.net for uploading, posting, emailing, transmitting or otherwise making available content that is harassing, harmful, threatening, abusive, vulgar, obscene, defamatory, libelous, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable or harmful to minors in any way.

5. Users shall not use any portion of Tcdailyplanet.net for uploading, posting, emailing, transmitting or otherwise making available junk mail, commercial advertisements, or any other form of commercial solicitation that constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation if (1) posted in areas which are not designated for such purposes; or (2) emailed to Tcdailyplanet.net users who have requested not to be contacted about other services, products or commercial interests

6. Users shall not attempt to interfere with any other person's use or enjoyment of Tcdailyplanet.net.

8. Users shall not hold themselves out as sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with the Twin Cities Media Alliance.

9. Users shall not attempt to modify, translate, adapt, edit, decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any software programs used by Tcdailyplanet.net in connection with Tcdailyplanet.net website.

10. Users shall not post content that harasses, degrades, intimidates or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability.

11. Users shall not post, e-mail or otherwise make available any content or material that that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person's explicit consent.

12. Users shall not post, e-mail or otherwise make available any content or material that advertises any illegal services or the sale of any items the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by applicable law, including without limitation items the sale of which is prohibited or regulated by Minnesota law.

13. Users shall not post, e-mail or otherwise make available any content or material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment.

14. Users shall not post, e-mail or otherwise make available any content or material that disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Service, or that otherwise negatively affects other users' ability to use the Service.

15. Users shall not post, e-mail or otherwise make available any content or material that employs misleading email addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of content transmitted through the Service.

16. Users shall not contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted.

17. Users shall not "stalk" or otherwise harass anyone.

18. Users shall not collect personal data about other users for commercial or unlawful purposes.

19. Users shall not use automated means, including scripts, spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from or upload data to the Service.

20. Users shall not post irrelevant content, repeatedly post the same or similar content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure.

21. Users shall not attempt to gain unauthorized access to Tcdailyplanet.net's computer systems or any other user's computer systems, or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, the service or the Tcdailyplanet.net website.

Privacy rights Tcdailyplanet.net takes your personal privacy seriously. That is why we have adopted our Privacy Policy, which explains our position on information gathering and how we intend to use and share any information we collect. Your use of the Tcdailyplanet.net website or our services signifies acknowledgement of and consent to the information practices in our Privacy Policy. Other services, advertisers and information providers that are accessible on Tcdailyplanet.net are provided by third parties, and have their own policies about using personal information. You should contact these third parties directly for their policies. You agree that Tcdailyplanet.net may access and disclose information about you or your use of our service when we deem it necessary or appropriate to comply with the law, to respond to claims, to protect our systems and customers, to ensure the integrity and operation of our business and systems, or to protect the rights or property of Tcdailyplanet.net or its affiliates. Such disclosure may include, without limitation, “Personally Identifiable Information”, your IP address, clickstream and traffic information and usage history. Our right to disclose any such information shall govern over any terms of our Privacy Policy.

International Users You acknowledge and agree that due to the international dimension of the World Wide Web, we may use the data collected in the course of our relationship for the purposes identified in the Privacy Policy, for the purposes identified in our other communications with you, or to provide the information to other businesses and selected third parties which may be outside your resident jurisdiction. Tcdailyplanet.net stores and processes your information on computers located in the United States that are protected by physical as well as technological security devices. In addition, such data may be stored on servers located in other jurisdictions. By providing us with your data, you consent to the transfer of such data. If you object to your information being transferred or used in this way please do not use our site or services.

Children's use of Tcdailyplanet.net Tcdailyplanet.net does not knowingly collect or solicit “Personally Identifiable Information” from or about children under the age of 13 except as permitted by law. If we discover we have received any information from a child under the age of 13 in violation of this policy, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe Tcdailyplanet.net has any information from or about anyone under the age of 13, please contact us at webmaster [at] Tcdailyplanet [dot] net. Children under the age of 13 are specifically prohibited from becoming registered users of Tcdailyplanet.net. Other services and information providers accessible through Tcdailyplanet.net have their own policies about children's privacy, and you should contact them directly for their policies. Tcdailyplanet.net strongly recommends that parents supervise the use of the Internet by their children. A number of commercial products are available to help limit access to material on the Internet that you may consider harmful or inappropriate for your child.

Disclaimer While Tcdailyplanet.net strives for accuracy, it does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information or database on our service. Nor does Tcdailyplanet.net guarantee or warrant that any files available for downloading will be free of defects. Neither the Twin Cities Media Alliance nor any of its information providers shall be liable in any way to you or the other parties for delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in the material published in Tcdailyplanet.net. While we take reasonable steps to ensure that no viruses, worms, Trojan horses or other destructive properties are present, the entire risk as to the quality and performance of Tcdailyplanet.net and the accuracy and completeness of any information is with the user of our service. Likewise, Tcdailyplanet.net does not warrant that our service will be uninterrupted or error-free. Tcdailyplanet.net makes no warranties, express or implied, including, without limitation, those of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose any information published on the Tcdailyplanet.net Web site or any products or services sold through the Tcdailyplanet.net Web site. Opinions, advice and all other information expressed on Tcdailyplanet.net bulletin boards represent the individual's own views and not necessarily those of Tcdailyplanet.net. Tcdailyplanet.net does not endorse and is not responsible for statements, advice and opinions made by anyone other than authorized Tcdailyplanet.net spokespersons. Experts, system operators and moderators on Tcdailyplanet.net are not authorized spokespersons. Any investment decisions or other actions that users take based on information available on Tcdailyplanet.net should first be reviewed by a competent financial adviser or other professional. THE TCDAILYPLANET.NET SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT, OR WARRANTIES REGARDING THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENT OR ANY OTHER SERVICE OR PRODUCT ON OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE (INCLUDING ANY LINK TO ANOTHER WEB SITE OR RESOURCE). In no event will Tcdailyplanet.net be liable for (i) any incidental, consequential, or indirect damages (including, but not limited to, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of programs or information, and the like) arising out of the use of or inability to use Tcdailyplanet.net, or any information or services provided on Tcdailyplanet.net, even if Tcdailyplanet.net has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or (ii) any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies published on Tcdailyplanet.net.

Indemnification You agree to indemnify, defend and hold Tcdailyplanet.net harmless from and against any and all liability, loss, claims, damages, costs and/or actions (including attorney's fees) based on or arising from any breach by you of your obligations under these Terms of Use. We reserve the right to defend any such claim, and you agree to provide us with such reasonable cooperation and information as we may request.

Adjudication of Disputes Any legal controversy or legal claim arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use or Tcdailyplanet.net, excluding legal action taken by Twin Cities Media Alliance to obtain an injunction relating to its intellectual property, shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court having jurisdiction thereof. Any legal action taken by Twin Cities Media Alliance to obtain an injunction relating to its intellectual property will be governed and interpreted under the laws of the state of Minnesota. Hennepin County District Court and/or the United States District Court, District of Minnesota, have exclusive jurisdiction in any dispute arising from this agreement. In the event that any provision of this agreement is found to be in conflict with the law, such provision shall be restated to reflect the original intent, and all other terms and conditions shall remain in full force and effect. Your interactions with companies, organizations and/or individuals found on or through our site, including any purchases, transactions, or other dealings, and any terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such companies, organizations and/or individuals. You agree that we will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings. If there is a dispute between users of this site, or between a user and any third party, you understand and agree that we are under no obligation to become involved. In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users, you release Twin Cities Media Alliance, its officers, employees, agents, representatives and successors from any claims, demands and damages of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such disputes and/or our site.

Termination Notwithstanding any provision of these Terms of Use, we reserve the right, without notice and in our sole discretion, to terminate any or all of the Tcdailyplanet.net service and/or your license to use the Tcdailyplanet.net service, or to block or prevent future access to and use of Tcdailyplanet.net.

Severability If any provision of these Terms of Use shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms of Use and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Questions and comments about Tcdailyplanet.net We hope you enjoy using Tcdailyplanet.net. Questions and comments about the content of Tcdailyplanet.net may be sent by submitting a feedback form. We read all comments sent to us and try to respond to as many as possible. Technical questions regarding your software, your configuration or your connection should be directed to your Internet access provider. Tcdailyplanet.net cannot address questions except those specifically about content and services that we provide. Effective Date: 12/20/05

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